K Ramakrishna Rao appointed new CS
Hyderabad: Putting an end to the speculation, the state government on Sunday appointed Special Chief Secretary to Finance Department K Ramakrishna Rao as the new Chief Secretary.
The new head of the state administration will take charge on April 30 soon after the incumbent Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari retires from the services. Ramakrishna Rao, an IAS officer of 1991 batch, has been heading the Finance Department for the last 10 years and playing a key role in the management of finances during the crisis time, mainly when the Covid pandemic crippled the Telangana economy in 2021 and 2022 in the last BRS government.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's government also relied on Ramakrishna Rao and utilised the designated new Chief Secretary's expertise in the financial management since December 2023 after the Congress assumed power in the state. He has the credit of introducing a slew of financial systems to enhance financial control and transparency in the allocation of funds.
Official sources said Ramakrishna will hold a full additional charge (FAC) of the Finance Department until the government appoints a new secretary to the key wing.
The senior IAS official also held the charge of the State Reorganization Department dealing with all matters related to the formation of the new state of Telangana and the bifurcation of assets issue between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states.
Ramakrishna Rao had also worked as Director General of Centre for Good Governance (CGG) and brought many reforms by leveraging Information technology in the administration.
Graduated from IIT Kanpur and also Master's degree in Business Management, the IAS officer started his career as Collector of Adilabad district.
Meanwhile, it is said that current Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari has been offered Government Advisor and Chief Information Commission posts after demitting the office on her superannuation. However, she is yet to make a decision on the offer.
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